Types of Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is primarily a mental disorder, but nobody is sure what causes it. The common belief is that the disease is caused by a number of factors that include the chemistry of a person's brain, the person's genetic makeup, and quite possibly environmental factors. Schizophrenia is often confused with multiple personality disorder because the word schizophrenia translates to "split mind." People with multiple personality disorder suffer from having many independent identities trying to share the same body. Often one is more dominant than the others, but communication between the identities can be quite common. Schizophrenics, on the other hand, suffer from hallucinations and delusions that manifest themselves outside of the schizophrenic's body, and obviously only to the schizophrenic. There are different types of schizophrenia. People who have schizophrenia can suffer from delusions that people are out to get them, hear voices and see things that other people do not see. The disease is very hard to diagnose because most of the major symptoms are also symptoms of other diseases.

There are a number of different types of schizophrenia.

One of the types of schizophrenia is Paranoid Schizophrenia. The paranoid schizophrenic often experiences feelings of conspiracy or persecution against them. They often experience auditory hallucinations. People with paranoid schizophrenia are usually better able to have relationships and work with others than those who are diagnosed with other types of schizophrenia. People who suffer from paranoid schizophrenia do not usually start to display symptoms of the disease until they are older and they usually have a higher level of function before their disease starts to manifest itself in any noticeable way.

Another of the types of schizophrenia is Disorganized Schizophrenia. Someone who suffers from disorganizes schizophrenia suffer from disorganized thought processes. Usually the disorganized schizophrenic does not have the extreme hallucinations and delusions that people with other types of schizophrenia have. On the other hand, people with disorganized schizophrenia often have a harder time going about their daily lives. They can have a hard time completing even the simplest of tasks like bathing and getting dressed. Often disorganized schizophrenics seem to be emotionally unstable because they cannot process situations in a healthy way.

A third type of schizophrenia is Catatonic Schizophrenia. The catatonic schizophrenic usually has problems with movement. Eventually the catatonic schizophrenic experiences such problems with their movements that they stop moving altogether. This is called a catatonic stupor. The catatonic schizophrenic can also suffer from having their movements increase dramatically, which is called catatonic excitement. This part of the disease is often mistaken as OCD. People with catatonic schizophrenia often appear uncomfortable but will not let people move them into different positions.

Undifferentiated Schizophrenia is another type of schizophrenia. Undifferentiated schizophrenics usually have schizophrenic symptoms but they aren't latent enough and/or they are varied enough that placing the person into any other category of the disease is difficult. Along with this type of the disease are the Residual Schizophrenics, whose symptoms have greatly diminished, compared to other phases of the disea

Signs of Schizophrenia Tip #1

Schizophrenia is not the same thing as having multiple personality disorder. In multiple personality disorder a person has a number of independent identities that all share one host body. Typically one of the personalities is dominant and the others exist under the surface. With Schizophrenia, there could be independent personalities but the person suffering from the disease believes that these identities exist outside of him or herself.

Signs of Schizophrenia Tip #2

There are different types of schizophrenia. The most widely known is that of paranoid schizophrenia in which the schizophrenic believes that there are people who are out to "get" him (or her). Commonly the patient associates himself with an elite group and believes that it is his membership with that group that has made him a target of others.

Signs of Schizophrenia Tip #3

Schizophrenia is normally treated with anti-psychotic drugs. There are new drugs being developed all the time. Other treatments include Electro Convulsive Therapy in which the patient is driven to convulsions by receiving a series of shocks to the brain. This treatment is thought to fix the electrochemical balance of the brain.